Study: Trying Too Hard to Track Spending Counterproductive for Grocery Shoppers

A recent report by Koert van Ittersum, assistant professor of marketing, van Ittersum sought to learn whether, when, and how grocery shoppers keep track of their in-store spending. The report found that most shoppers do overspend because they rely to heavily on calculating costs in their heads. van Ittersum said, "When shopping in a grocery store, the chaotic, information-rich environment can tax a shopper's ability to mentally calculate the total basket price. Executing many arithmetic operations with multi-digit pricing is demanding. Our findings show that shoppers tend to be more accurate when they employ short-cut strategies in their calculations."

We encourage you to read van Ittersum's report. How can you use this information in your efforts to improve the in-store experience for the shopper?

Study: Trying Too Hard to Track Spending Counterproductive for Grocery Shoppers